THE MOTHER WIT HUMAN RIGHTS FUND is dedicated to supporting women filmmakers and courageous human rights activists — be they men, women or youth — who together from both sides of the camera take on critical human rights struggles in the U.S. and around the globe. These films are meant to inspire, enrage and catalyze the collective belief and will needed to insure civil rights, reproductive health rights, environmental, racial and economic justice, education and literacy for all — and especially for women and girls. The films must lead with a story and help expand and extend the definition of human rights to mean all the basic rights needed to THRIVE — live, work, play, eat, learn and love — in peace.

We operate from a basic belief that people respond to stories, not issues. Thus, we support women filmmakers who are actively stretching as storytellers and are committed to taking creative risks. When we choose a project it is because we firmly believe that this film needs to be made and this filmmaker is the one to make it. We engage in a full vetting process. We fund, knowing that the filmmaker, who is generally at a critical juncture in her career, is open to mentorship, collaboration, community building and strategic feedback and that the project will be completed and launched in step with the social movement that needs it most.

We came together to create a dynamic venture that is as responsive to the needs of women filmmakers, particularly those making films dedicated to social change, as it is mindful of how the “business” of filmmaking and social change works—and could work better.